Introduction

Los Angeles is home to architecture that is wacky and wonderful, artful and edgy. Buildings bursting with post World War II exuberance nestle against mid-century modern drive-ins, Italianate libraries, avant-garde edifices and homes that could double as castles.

The most successful means to date of protecting this cultural heritage has been through Mills Act Legislation, which allows local governments to offer financial incentives to private property owners for the restoration and preservation of historic buildings. Then-Councilmember Ridley-Thomas authored the Ordinance that brought the Mills Act to Los Angeles, thereby funding millions of dollars of historic preservation and adaptive re-use investments in the City, and helping to save many landmark buildings. The City of Los Angeles adopted the program in 1996 and since then, hundreds of properties have benefited. The County, however, has had no such ordinance on its books – a step the Board of Supervisors may soon remedy.

On February 14th the Board of Supervisors approved a motion sponsored by Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Michael D. Antonovich, directing the Regional Planning Department to develop historic preservation strategies for the unincorporated areas of the County. The department will deliver its findings to the Board this summer, and the supervisors will be poised to take a critical step toward safeguarding the county’s rich design heritage.

In honor of the occasion, we compiled 10 of our favorite architectural sites, and we invite you to upload photos and share your favorites with us as well. Ours are in the Second District, but we welcome contributions from all over the county. Some of our picks strain the definition of “architecture” — they are not buildings. We included them, however, because this preservation effort isn’t just about bricks and mortar. It’s about the inspiring symbols of human creativity, perseverance and skill, ranging from the high art of the Clark Library to the folk genius of the Watts Towers. Our goal is to raise awareness about the features that make our communities recognizable, livable and beautiful.

Click on the audio link below each image to hear Dan Rosenfeld, a noted developer and the Second District’s senior deputy for economic development, discuss the picks on our list. You can click directly on the audio link to add your observations or leave a longer post in the comments section.

We’ll be featuring a new site, with accompanying audio, every month for the rest of the year and posting your submissions in a gallery.

Enjoy!

Audio overview by Dan Rosenfeld

Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

1. Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

Photo: Corrected photo courtesy of Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

California can almost trace its modern history — as a territory of Spain, then Mexico, and finally as part of the United States — through the family founded by Spanish soldier Juan Jose Dominguez. The 75,000 acres of Rancho San Pedro, gifted to Dominguez in 1784 by Spain, covered most of what today is Compton and stretched to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. His heir and nephew, Don Manuel, built this lovely adobe home for his bride in 1826. Situated on a hilltop in what is now Rancho Dominguez, this “Mission” or “Spanish Colonial” look became the signature style of Southern California and has influenced the design of countless homes and public structures. Its genius lies in the artful use of simple, locally made materials such as fired mud bricks, whitewashed stucco, and curved clay roof tiles. Moreover, the style is sustainable, providing excellent insulation and naturally cool or warm spaces as the seasons change. Don Manuel Dominguez lived California’s metamorphosis, holding positions under both Mexican and U.S. governments: he served as (Alcade) Mayor of Los Angeles, a judge, and Los Angeles County Supervisor. He also was one of 47 delegates to sign the new state’s constitution. One hundred and eighty-six years later, Don Manuel’s home is a museum. Its grounds are often used for parties, weddings, and other celebrations that entwine both the Dominguez family and California’s historic past with the lives of residents today.

The Clark Library

2. The Clark Library

Photo: Adam Janeiro

The opulent rooms of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library are a bibliophile’s dream. Home to one of the most comprehensive rare book and manuscript collections in the United States, the Italian Renaissance building was designed by Robert Farquhar (who also designed Beverly Hills High School) and built in 1924 to house the personal collection of philanthropist William Andrews Clark, Jr. The library was named to honor Clark’s father, a Montana copper baron and U.S. Senator. Special touches reflect the family’s history: bookcases in the reading rooms, for example, are made of copper. With a particular focus on 17th and 18th Century English literature, the collection includes works by or about luminaries such as John Milton, Henry Fielding and Jonathan Swift. The Clark is also home to the world’s most extensive collections of works by or about Oscar Wilde. The library hosts poetry readings, concerts, lectures and special events in its drawing room, where murals depicting scenes from All For Love, English poet John Dryden’s retelling of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, grace the walls.

Dunbar Hotel

3. Dunbar Hotel

Photo: Wikipedia

When the Dunbar Hotel, opened in 1928, it was the center of African-American culture in Los Angeles. Originally called the Hotel Somerville, it was built entirely by black contractors, laborers and craftsmen, and financed by black Angelenos. It was the only hotel in Los Angeles that welcomed black guests and as such, hosted many of the era’s legendary entertainers, politicians and civic leaders. Stars of the Jazz age, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, stayed there and then played next door at the famed Club Alabam. The hotel was renamed the Dunbar in 1929, in honor of legendary poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, and was designated a historic-cultural landmark in 1974. It is currently under renovation by local developer Tom Safran. Upon completion, the new building will provide affordable housing for senior citizens.

Exposition Park Rose Garden

4. Exposition Park Rose Garden

Photo: Wikipedia

Home to 200 varieties of roses and 20,000 bushes, the seven acres of the sunken rose garden in Exposition Park are a serene and exquisite oasis in Los Angeles’ urban core. Its beauty makes it a popular backdrop for summer weddings, and no hint lingers of its earthier turn-of-the-century past when gamblers gathered to bet on dog, camel and horse races. Why is a garden on our list? In Southern California our outdoor spaces — patios, decks, balconies and even rusty old fire escapes just large enough for a grill — are extensions of our homes. Just as a superbly designed building is the imaginative but practical organization and use of space, so too is a well-planned, and in this case, beautiful, fragrant, and blooming outdoor rose garden.

Angelus Funeral Home

5. Angelus Funeral Home

Photo: Martin Zamora

The Angelus Funeral Home, designed by noted African-American architect Paul R. Williams, incorporates neo-classical and Art Deco elements often seen in Williams’ work. Williams’ talent was evident early on; he designed buildings while still a student at the University of Southern California School of Engineering and opened his own architecture office at age 25. He designed more than 2,000 homes in Los Angeles, but is perhaps most noted for the swank residences he created for Hollywood stars, including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Lon Chaney and Frank Sinatra. Among his public projects are the Beverly Hills Hotel, Hollywood YMCA and Los Angeles County Courthouse. Founded in 1923, Angelus Funeral Home was the first black-owned business incorporated in California. The name refers to the Christian devotion, taken from the Latin, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ, meaning “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.”

The Watts Towers

6. The Watts Towers

Photo: Thinkstock.com

“Why I build it? I can’t tell you. Why a man make the pants? Why a man make the shoes?”
– Sculptor Simon Rodia

Was he genius? A madman? A little of both? (Sabato) Simon Rodia, who was born in 1879 in Italy and who emigrated to the United States at age 15, always refused to explain his labor of love. Built over the span of 33 years, the Watts towers are actually 17 dazzling structures composed of steel piles and rods wrapped with wire mesh, coated with mortar are inlaid with broken glass, sea shells, and tile collected by Rodia and neighborhood children. Almost as soon as they began to take shape, however, the towers became controversial. Vandals targeted them relentlessly, and in the 1960s, the City of Los Angeles attempted to have them torn down. Today they are widely recognized as masterpieces of ingenuity and engineering. According to a documentary about the one-time bricklayer, Rodia was in part inspired by the most famous tower in his homeland, the leaning tower of Pisa, where Galileo Galileo dropped two balls in his famous experiment on acceleration. “My God, I say, I’m going to make a tower different than Galileo,” Rodia once remarked. In the historic two-square mile neighborhood from which the towers take their name, that’s exactly what he did.

Randy’s & Dale’s Donuts

7. Randy’s & Dale’s Donuts

Los Angeles loves donuts: hot Krispy Kremes, towering strawberry donuts, beignets, gut-busting maple-bacon donuts, Danish aebelskiver (apple fritters), and even newfangled red velvet concoctions. Best donut lists and contests are eternal internet favorites, and there is even L.A. art commemorating the donut experience, such as Jennifer Rubell’s donut wall at LACMA. Greater Los Angeles is arguably the donut capital of the world. Although aficionados debate which ones are best, few deny that the region’s most iconic donuts are the towering rings above Randy’s and Dale’s donut shops. Built in 1952 and designed by Henry J. Goodwin, Randy’s Donuts was a part of the BigDoNut drive-through chain and is an example of semaphore architecture, in which buildings visually signal their purpose. For decades, these landmarks have grabbed motorists’ attention in our fast-moving automobile culture, and Randy’s has been featured in movies including Earth Girls Are Easy, Coming to America and Iron Man 2.

Pann’s Restaurant & Coffee Shop

8. Pann’s Restaurant & Coffee Shop

Photo: Pann’s Catering website (www.pannscatering.com)

It’s 1958: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches Explorer 1 and the space race is on. Drive-in movies are in their heyday, and a group soon to be known as the Beatles has its first recording session. Ed Sullivan and Elvis are in, and the average cost of a house is $12,750. That same year, Greek immigrants George and Rena Panagopoulos open Pann’s Restaurant and Coffee Shop in Inglewood. Some love Pann’s for the food and others the hospitality, but it’s the restaurant’s optimistic architecture that lands it on our list. Googie architecture – the name comes from a now defunct coffee shop in West Hollywood – was popular from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s, when futuristic motifs were the rage. Pann’s was designed by architects Eldon Davis and Helen Liu Fong, and, more than 50 years later, the large windows and tropical landscaping give the site a classic coffee shop look and feel. The restaurant continues to attract a devoted following and has also been featured in hit films such as Pulp Fiction.

Marilyn Jorgenson Reece Memorial Interchange

9. Marilyn Jorgenson Reece Memorial Interchange

Photo: Google Maps

The flowing sweep of the freeway interchange between Highways 10 and 405 in West Los Angeles is an architectural triumph. One of the largest man-made structures in the region, it is also one of the most elegant — a true work of art. Practical, simple and highly sophisticated in its design, like much of the architecture that we use in our daily lives it often goes unnoticed. What further distinguishes this immense structure is that its designer, Marilyn Jorgenson Reece, was the first woman to break the gender barrier in highway design. Including this representative from the road system in our list of heritage highlights seems natural to us. Not only does it underscore the importance of the freeway system in fostering Los Angeles’ rapid growth and suburbanization after the Second World War, it also pays homage to the fundamental importance of mobility in our unique urban character… and let’s face it, we live on freeways.

Dr. Theodore T. Alexander, Jr. Science Center School

10. Dr. Theodore T. Alexander, Jr. Science Center School

Photo: Gary Leonard

Can anyone just walk by a Thom Mayne building without stopping to stare and wonder? The Pritzker Prize-winning architect is respected as one of the world’s most aggressively original designers, and theDr. Theodore Alexander, Jr. Science Center School illustrates why. Built in 2004, a steel-framed lattice addition is attached to the original 1926 cast concrete and brick armory structure. The two story, steel-framed addition contains 20 classrooms, and the main floor supports an 8,400 square-foot garden on its top deck. If you ever pass the intersection of Exposition Park Boulevard and Figueroa Street, you will see Mayne’s linear structure of gridded lattices, bridges and stair extensions pushing upward toward the intersection. The building challenges the eye the way science challenges the mind, inviting students indoors and observers outside to go forth into unexplored territory, always asking: Why? How? What next?

Village Green

11. Village Green

Photo: Floyd B. Bariscale

Sir Thomas More published the book Utopia in 1516 and simultaneously gave birth to the enduring quest for the perfect place to dwell. Yes, that’s an exaggeration. The concept of the ideal city far predates More. In antiquity, mighty capitals often were constructed to align with the stars: Machu Picchu, ancient Persepolis and Peru’s Cuzco. So how does Village Green fit into this grand lineage? It too, has utopian aspirations. When construction began in 1941, the former Baldwin Hills Village was one of the most ambitious urban planning projects of its day. The goal was to do the remarkable: balance the tensions between nature and development, privacy and community, individuality and interconnected living. Today. the gardens, parks and courtyards of the condominium complex provide an oasis of greenery and calm in the heart of L.A.’s metropolis, and in contrast to architecture that clamors for notice, the buildings of Village Green almost slide off the eye. Even better, the design minimizes visual evidence of cars — it’s as if the architects knew Angelenos would one day grow to depend on (and therefore to resent) automobiles. Critic Lewis Mumford once said of the neighborhood, “Here every part of the design speaks the same robust vernacular: simple, direct, intelligible.” We couldn’t have said it better.

Wilshire Boulevard Temple

12. Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Photo: Lazlo Regos courtesy of Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Hirsz, Aaron, Szmul and Itzhak Wonskolaser – better known in Hollywood as Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner, or simply, the Warner Brothers, catapulted the film world out of the silent movie era into the talkies with The Jazz Singer. One of the Warners’ lasting gifts to Los Angeles, however, is not on film, but on the walls of the grand and graceful Wilshire Boulevard Temple. The Temple, erected in 1929, is masterpiece inside and out. This photograph shows the building as it is most familiar to passersby, with its beautiful Byzantine dome. Inside is another artistic glory. Commissioned by Warner Bros. studio head Jack Warner and painted by artist Hugo Ballins, murals depicting the journey of Jewish people from biblical times to their arrival in the United States, ring the sanctuary. Such depictions, even in a reform temple, were rare at the time, due to a strict interpretation of the Second Commandment’s prohibition against graven idols. The Warner Memorial Murals, 320-foot long and 7-foot tall, serve as a spiritual silent movie telling the story of a people.

USC’s Widney Alumni House

13. USC’s Widney Alumni House

The 20 years between 1860 and 1880 were transformative for Los Angeles. The city’s Wild West character was rapidly evolving – civilizing, if you will. The population swelled from 4,400 to 11,000 people; L.A. was connected to San Francisco by railroad in 1876, and four years later the University of Southern California was founded. Stately Widney Hall, now Widney Alumni House, was the newborn institution’s only building, accommodating 53 students and 10 faculty members. For many Angelinos (except maybe Bruins fans) the building is almost as iconic as Tommy Trojan, and over the decades, it has been remodeled, renovated and even relocated several times. Today USC enrolls about 37,000 students annually and has more international students than any university in the nation. Nonetheless, the school also has fostered vigorous community partnerships and programs that support and engage its neighborhood. The Widney’s graceful lines and simple design are a visual testament to USC’s commitment to Los Angeles and its own past, even as its vision is now focused on the future.

Leimert Park

14. Leimert Park

In the heart of the Crenshaw District sits lovely Leimert Park. Developed in the late 1920’s by real estate mogul Walter Leimert, the neighborhood was an example of cutting-edge urban planning. Walter Leimert’s other projects included Beverly Highlands in the Hollywood Hills, Sierra Park in Orange County, and Cambria Pines near Hearst Castle. Leimert Park’s quaint shopping district today is an arts Mecca — the hub of Los Angeles’ spoken word, jazz, blues, and poetry community and an important cultural center for the city’s African-American community. The entire Leimert Park neighborhood, however, spans 600 acres and was designed to be a self-contained community complete with a theater, shopping center, and town square. The residential areas are dominated by craftsman and colonial-style homes that sit on shady streets lined with giant Magnolias, Eucalyptus, Maple and Pine trees. Designed to promote pedestrian traffic, the community was laid out to take advantage of the main mode of transportation of the 1920s: the yellow trolleys of the Los Angeles streetcar system. The streetcars are long gone, but construction of the new Crenshaw-to-LAX light rail line is slated to begin next year, and once again, the train must stop in this iconic location.

Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza

15. Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza

Built in 1947, the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza was the first open-air mall in the nation. Originally called the Broadway-Crenshaw Center, the mall was a 550,000-square-foot retail wonder. Anchored by The Broadway and May Company stores, it was also home to that fixture of the American marketplace: a Woolworth five and dime. (Woolworth had distinguished itself decades earlier by becoming one of the first American retailers to let shoppers handle wares without the help of a sales clerk. Also, its famed lunch counters, in some respects, were the precursors to the modern food court). The photograph here has been altered – a palm tree originally blocked the view of The Broadway. We thought it worthwhile, however, to capture the feel of the original mall and offer a glimpse of what would be unthinkable today: 13 acres of parking. The magic of the mall, however, was not just its size and retail offerings. It was and still is the gathering place for a community. It was redesigned, expanded, and enclosed in the 1980s, and purchased by Capri Capital Partners of Chicago in 2006. Capri has given it a $35 million-makeover, with new shops, a new movie theater, and new restaurants — most notably, the upscale Post & Beam. With glowing reviews and an already ardent following, the new dining spot bids fair to build on the tradition established by its predecessor, the popular Golden Bird restaurant. When the new Crenshaw-to-LAX light-rail line begins service to the mall, there really will be no stopping the resurgence of this iconic city meeting place.

Southwestern Law School’s Bullocks Wilshire

16. Southwestern Law School’s Bullocks Wilshire

Bullocks Wilshire Department Store opened its doors on September 26, 1929, and instantly set a new standard for opulence. Never had Los Angeles, or the rest of the country for that matter, seen a store whose stylish exterior so perfectly matched the luxurious shopping experience indoors. With its 241-foot copper-topped tower, terracotta tiles and decorative copper panels, the five-story Art Deco building was an instant L.A. landmark. The interior was equally elegant, with marble walls, travertine floors and a Herman Sachs ceiling mural that paid homage to transportation, with images of steam trains, ocean liners, planes and giant blimps. The ambience was one of restrained gentility: the store featured live mannequins, and sales clerks wrote slips by hand to minimize noise. Strategically located three miles from downtown – far enough then to be considered suburban but close enough to wealthy Hancock Park – Bullocks catered to Hollywood. Katherine Hepburn was said to have bought her men’s trousers there –as were Cary Grant and Clark Gable. For six decades the store reigned over its stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, finally closing its doors in 1993. A year later, Southwestern Law School purchased the building and invested $29 million in a terrific restoration and renovation. It now houses a law library and other accoutrements of its academic mission. Although the building has been repurposed, we love Southwestern Law School’s Bullocks Wilshire. Los Angeles has lost irreplaceable architectural gems in past years, and it’s wonderful to see Bullocks Wilshire still thriving. No, a modern-day Mae West can’t pull up out front and have clothes brought to her car as the legendary movie star did, but 83 years after it first opened, Bullocks Wilshire is still going strong.

Sanchez Adobe

17. Sanchez Adobe

Hidden in plain sight, on a tree-lined street in Baldwin Hills, is what could be the oldest building in Los Angeles: an adobe building dating from the late 1700s. Archival materials date the Sanchez Adobe, located on Don Felipe Drive, to as early as 1791, meaning the South Los Angeles building likely surpasses the Avila Adobe on Olvera Street, the city’s acknowledged title holder, by 20 years of age. We say “hidden in plain sight,” because it has long been known that the Sanchez Adobe, is centuries old. Recently, however, its current owners, the Consolidated Board of Realtists, spearheaded research into the adobe’s past, and a closer look at the building hinted at its record-holding status. Little about the building calls the eye in way of decoration or adornment. The Sanchez Adobe is a plain, somewhat weather-beaten structure with numerous additions and alterations. But its history is romantic as one could wish, with residence or ownership by a colorful cast of characters and organizations that truly evokes the Los Angeles’ Wild West, multi-ethnic layers of history. It has been home to Mexican dons and Anglo entrepreneurs. Once the residence of Vicente Sanchez, the adobe later belonged to Irish-American businessman Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin. Now it belongs to an organization of African-American real estate professionals. (Incidentally, it was Paul Williams, one of L.A.’s most noted architects, who urged the Realtists to purchase the building). Freed African slaves worked there after the Civil War, as did Chinese laborers – all brought by Baldwin to the property, according to the Realtists. After Baldwin’s ownership, the adobe passed to the Catholic church for a time, and later was home to a golf course and a women’s club, when the surrounding neighborhoods were mostly Anglo. Standing inside the adobe today and looking out over Los Angeles, one can only imagine the breathtaking sweep of hills and dells, the splendid solitude and wondrous views of earlier times. Like many Angelenos, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas had been to the Don Felipe Drive building many times but was unaware of its tremendous historic value and legacy. He recently toured the adobe with architectural preservationist Peyton Hall, of Historic Resources Group, to gain new perspectives on its hidden heritage. Hall, who wrote a report on the Avila Adobe in 1992, said he was shocked to learn of a building that likely predates that one. Many in his field, architects, historians and preservationists, have no idea the building even exists, he said, and a detailed study of the structure is the immediate next step toward establishing its place in L.A.’s architectural history. The Supervisor agreed. Sanchez Adobe is a building at once familiar and yet unknown, he said. “To think that right here in the Baldwin Hills is perhaps the city’s oldest building, is just wonderful. There is a tremendous story to tell here, and now our task is to tell it.”

18. Petersen Automotive Museum

There’s something about Los Angeles and cars. Even as public transit becomes an increasingly important and popular option for residents, there will always be something about L.A. and the role of the it’s car in its growth: the car grew with L.A., and L.A. grew with the car. Thus it is only fitting that we have the world’s most noteworthy shrine to the automobile, the Petersen Automotive Museum. Inside is a car-lover’s dream (classic cars, vintage cars, rare cars, and even television star cars: Adam West’s Batmobile is on permanent display). The outside of the Petersen, however, is what lands it on our list. The sleek, sharp fenders across the front make the whole building looks as if it could spring free of its foundation and zoom down Wilshire Boulevard. It is a fine example of classic modernism — or perhaps, modern classicism evoking neoclassical columns.The style is less literal than the Forum, but still a terrific modern riff off the Parthenon. Architect Scott Johnson, took the idiom of Roman Classicism and with one simple gesture, the addition of fins, repositioned the building. And how fitting that it sits in the Miracle Mile on Wilshire — a road designed at the turn of the 20th century to accommodate not the horse and foot traffic of the day, but the transportation methods of the future. The museum was founded in 1994 by Hot Rod and Motor Trend Publisher Robert E. Petersen, and is housed in what was once the old Ohrbach’sdepartment store. In addition to hosting special exhibits and programs, it is a popular place for swanky receptions and — for truly hardcore automobiliphiles — weddings.

Even for those who’ve never gone inside, however, the Petersen is unforgettable. It powerfully captures the eye. Too often, repurposed and renovated buildings lose the integrity of their original structures, becoming a mishmash of times, eras, styles and egos. But here, Johnson’s slight tweak of the department store had marvelous results: it announced the building’s singular automotive purpose to all driving by, and gave Los Angeles another landmark.

Loyola High School

19. Loyola High School

Photo: Courtesy of Loyola High SchoolLoyola High School by Dan Rosenfeld
Founded in 1865 as St. Vincent College, Loyola High School is the oldest educational institution in Southern California and possibly the oldest high school in California. Located two miles west of downtown Los Angeles, the private all-male, Catholic high school sits on 15-acres in the Harvard Heights neighborhood. Designed by Albert C. Martin, Loyola’s beautiful buildings are in a style called Collegiate Gothic — an architectural tradition more commonly found on Ivy League campuses. Yale and Princeton universities, for example, yearned to exude the ancient, slightly weather-beaten and look of, say, Oxford and Cambridge universities, and therefore were built to look old, or rather, pedigreed. At Yale, architectural Anglophilia was taken to an extreme, and newly-built stone buildings were given broken windows and reportedly were doused with acid to add a patina of ancient heritage. Loyola’s grace is not contrived, deriving its beauty from stained glass windows, slender columns, free-standing sculptures, entrances with vaulted ceilings, and gabled rooftops accented by spires, pinnacles, and finials. For more than 140 years, the school has inculcated values of stewardship and community in the young men, and the school is renown for its diversity, admitting students from more than 225 zip codes across Los Angeles County. Located in close proximity to Hollywood, Loyola has appeared in a number of films, including: Coach Carter (2005), Donnie Darko, (2001), Fat Albert, (2004), and Thank You For Smoking (2005). A.C. Martin’s contributions to Southern California extended beyond Loyola. His firm worked on Los Angeles City Hall, the downtown Department of Water and Power building and many other local landmarks; it is still owned and managed by his direct descendents.

The Forum

20. The Forum

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia.com

Basketball’s most iconic arena was built in a fit of pique. In the 1960s, Jack Kent Cooke, legendary owner of the Lakers, followed through on his threat to build a stadium in Inglewood if the L.A. Coliseum Commission wouldn’t let his newly-acquired hockey team, the Kings, play there. Soon after, the Forum became the stage for some of basketball’s greatest gladiatorial showdowns. Thanks to Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, riveting play by the Showtime Lakers and a bone-deep rivalry with the Boston Celtics, the iconic Forum became recognizable from coast to coast. Of course, since it first opened its doors in 1967, the Forum has been much more than just a sports arena. Although it was also home to the WNBA Sparks, the venue has provided the backdrop to some of the world’s greatest musical acts. From the Jackson 5 to Elvis Presley, the Bee Gees to KISS and Prince to Nirvana, the Forum has been a must-stop destination on national and world concert tours. Over the years it also has been home to a mega-church, and most recently, its grounds provided space for thousands to view the Endeavour space shuttle. Inside and out it’s a classic. Ironically, the signature arches ringing the building actually evoke Rome’s famous Coliseum and not the Eternal City’s rectangular-shaped Forum (but we’re guessing Cooke was making a point). The structure is a signature product of the prolific and immensely successful office of Charles Luckman. “Chuck” Luckman began his career as a toothpaste salesman, rose quickly to the presidency of Lever Brothers, and then switched to his true passion: architecture. He lived locally in mid-century elegance, occupying a full floor atop his own Sunset Boulevard high-rise, and designing landmarks ranging from downtown’s tallest towers to the launch facilities at the Kennedy Spaceport and, of course, LAX. Ironically, one of Luckman’s most controversial projects involved the demolition of New York’s historic Penn Station to construct, yes, Madison Square Garden. And it is Madison Square Garden Company, in one of those crazy turns life sometimes takes, which currently owns and is renovating our beloved Forum.

Coca-Cola Building

21. Coca-Cola Building

Photo: Courtesy of Carol Highsmith

The flourishes and furbelows of Art Deco design and architecture with its zigzag ornamentation, sunburst motifs and uncensored chevrons were exciting and new in the mid 1920s, but by the mid-1930s, a more simplified architecture was catching on. The Los Angeles Coca-Cola bottling plant, pictured here, is a wonderful example of Streamline Moderne architecture – not a complete departure from Art Deco, rather a refinement. The plant’s clean lines unite form and function and the building beautifully displays the principle elements of the genre; it is aerodynamic and clean and nautical – complete with portholes, catwalk and a bridge. The building, located at 1334 South Central Ave. in Los Angeles, was designed in 1939 by Robert V. Derrah, a prominent architect who also designed the Crossroads of the World mall, numerous residences, movie studio buildings, and the Brown Derby restaurant. By the time the Coca Cola plant was commissioned by two brothers (who were said to be avid yachtsmen) Coke was more than 50 years old and already iconic. The original beverage, with main ingredients of kola nut and coca leaf extract, packed a wallop: an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. The cocaine was removed in 1903, and the company now uses a cocaine-free coca leaf extract made at a plant in New Jersey. Decades ago the federal government lost an effort to have the caffeine removed on the grounds that it is an addictive substance, and with 10 teaspoons of sugar per can the soda still carries a lot of kick. The building does too. Its aeronautical lines exude a sense of speed, power and luxury. It’s classic L.A., classic architecture and (you know what’s coming) Classic Coke.

Stealth Building

22. Stealth Building

Photo: Courtesy of Eric Owen Moss Architects

Is there anything like the Stealth Building? Cutting edge yet slightly retro, avant guard yet classic? And doesn’t it automatically call to mind Michelangelo’s David? That’s right, David, the 17-foot marble masterpiece completed in 1504. The similarities aren’t of design, of course, but of emotional intelligence. Think of the statue, famed not just for its symmetrical perfection, but for the palpable tension embodied by the marble. David’s muscles are taut, veins throb and his expression is focused — he is about to explode into action. At the same time, however, his posture is relaxed and confident; he has been “caught” by Michelangelo the moment before battle with Goliath – action-in-repose. Now look at the Stealth Building. Taut and tense, utterly still yet twisting, weighted down by concrete yet alive, coiling and poised for action. Brilliant. Created by world-famous architect Eric Owen Moss in 2002, the design concept grew from the exacting environmental requirements of the location, which required excavation and removal of toxic earth on the formerly industrial site. A concrete block wall was constructed to enclose the two remaining warehouses on the east, and the Stealth was constructed to the west, against the new wall. A portion of the excavated area, underneath the overhanging new structure was reshaped to form a sunken garden — six feet below the sidewalk elevation. Moss, in an interview once stated: “The aspiration was to investigate a changing exterior form and a varying interior space: to construct a building that remakes both outside and inside.” Perhaps the exercise was intellectual, but from our viewpoint the result was high art.

Culver City’s City Hall

23. Culver City’s City Hall

Photo: Courtesy of Gonzalez Goodale Architects

This month’s architectural feature brings us to Culver City, also known as the heart of screenland, to spotlight its striking city hall. Although the building itself does not have a specific architectural style, its red-tiled roof and bright off-white walls evoke a Mediterranean flair that speaks to Southern California’s easy-going lifestyle and pleasant weather while also maintaining a connection to its history. Located on the west end of downtown, the city’s 87,900 – square-foot headquarters do more than provide a home to the municipal administration, departments and meetings. It creates a visual sense of peace and order. Dactylifera palm trees line its walkway, creating a verdant traffic pattern that gently connects visitors to the water fountain along a patio plaza, and a courtyard and abundant open space shield visitors from the noisy traffic along Culver Boulevard. It’s hard to picture Culver City without its bustling restaurants, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, or the movie studio presence that Harry Culver, its founder, envisioned nearly a century ago. Culver, a native of Nebraska, moved to Los Angeles and became a real estate mogul. To build his vision for a rival to Hollywood, he lured movie executives such as Thomas Ince and Hal Roach to his growing suburb, convincing them to build their studios in this new patch of land. Louis B. Mayer, founder of MGM Studios, erected a massive studio a few blocks away from City Hall that reflected his newfound grandeur. The rest, as they say, is history. The city continues to be a major hub of the industry, with Sony Pictures Entertainment replacing the old MGM, dozens of sound stages and screening rooms as well as the filming location for hundreds of movies and television shows including: The Wizard of OZ, Gone with the Wind, E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, the original King Kong, The Andy Griffin Show, Lassie, and Wheel of Fortune. Culver City has worked hard to maintain a connection to its past, even as it has grown in size, population and presence. The original city hall was built just as the movie industry was taking shape; it was by Orville L. Clark in 1928, also housed the police department and was reminiscent of the Beaux Arts style of architecture—albeit modestly—with a large pained oval window above its entrance. In 1995, in the middle of the city’s tremendously successful revitalization program, the city hall was rebuilt and updated to seismic code by architects, Armando Gonzalez and David Goodale of Gonzalez Goodale Architects. Gonzalez and Goodale included a remnant of the original 1928 building façade at its entrance, grounding Culver City firmly its past even as it looks to the future.

28th Street YMCA

24. 28th Street YMCA

Why don’t more black people swim? Actually, the answer has nothing to do with stereotypes about muscle mass and floatability. Swimming went through two bursts of popularity in the United States, between the 1920s-30s and the 1950s-60s, booms that resulted in the construction of about 2,000 public pools across the country. By law Blacks were barred from using many of the new public swimming pools and as decades passed without either access or instruction, swimming did not become a part of the culture. African-American architect Paul R. Williams, however, created a notable exception the 28th Street YMCA in South Los Angeles. With a public swimming pool, gymnasium and dormitory room on the upper floors, the YMCA provided a refuge for black men, becoming a place that kept both body and soul afloat during difficult times. Williams’ 1928 Spanish Revival-style building was added to the city, state and federal historic registers several years ago, and its façade remains much as it was when the building first opened. An exciting rehabilitation of the building, however, has breathed knew life into the space; it now houses 48 studio apartments and includes supportive services for tenants, which will include youth transitioning out of foster care and special needs adults. The renovation and addition are by the acclaimed Los Angeles-based team of Hank Koenig and Julie Eizenberg, noted for their optimistic and tasteful use of color and unusual materials. Also, the project will incorporate the highest environmental building standards. Despite the newfangled makeover, and the absence of the swimming pool, the building will continue to do what it always has, provide a place of service, shelter and hope for those most in need.

Compton City Hall

25. Compton City Hall

Photo: Courtesy of Compton City Hall

Compton is one of the oldest cities in Los Angeles County, having incorporated 125 years ago this month, on May 11, 1888. Its civic center, located in the heart of the Hub City, boasts of architecture that nonetheless is eternally modern, including Compton City Hall and the iconic Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. Designed by Harold L. Williams, a groundbreaking African-American architect who apprenticed with the legendary Paul Williams (no relation) and who went on to design a number of other civic structures, the city hall’s design is firmly rooted in the mid-century modern movement. In the civic center plaza, embodying the Compton spirit of community, sits the King memorial, a triumphant tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a symbol of peace, hope and prosperity. Its classical touches and elements – such as the march of columns across the front, provide an architectural allusion to the Roman and Greek beginnings of western systems of government. The King memorial, by noted sculptor Gerald Gladstone, evokes Dr. King’s last speech, “I have been to the mountaintop.” Speaking in Memphis, Tenn. the night before he died, King said that if he could travel in time, he would go to Greece and visit with its ancient philosophers at the pillared temple to Athena, the Parthenon. Then he would move on to Rome, where remnants of the former empire survive in the ruined columns of the Forum. More important than those antiquities, however, is the enduring struggle for democracy and freedom here in America, he said. So true. Architectural styles may evolve over time, but that struggle, the unifying and edifying mission of public art, democracy and civic building remains unchanged.

John C. Argue Swim Stadium

26. John C. Argue Swim Stadium

The 1932 Olympic Games put Los Angeles on the map. An unprecedented 100,000 people showed up at the opening ceremony, and the games had a scale and quality never before seen in the city . Los Angeles’ 10th Street was renamed Olympic Boulevard, but because the country was in the grip of the Great Depression, costs were kept down with relatively few new venues constructed. One landmark slated for use during the Games was the newly-constructed Los Angeles Swimming Stadium, an impressive Art Deco style stadium constructed beside the Greco-Roman inspired Coliseum in Exposition Park. Gold medal swimmers such as Buster Crabbe (the future Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon) entered through the natatorium’s imposing entrance, leading to a then-state-of-the-art 50-meter pool. There were dressing rooms, a press section and seating accommodations for 10,000 spectators. At the time, the pool was a model for international swimming, with ample, wide lanes that prevented swimmers from veering into each other’s wake — a common occurrence back then . As the Games came to a close, the venue continued to serve the community, with the USC swimming team and others using it for competitions. By 1970, 65 world records had been set at the stadium; to date, no other pool in the world has come close to such a milestone. It’s glory days officially ended when the 1984 Olympic Games ushered in a new era, and the natatorium was pushed aside for a pool at USC. Ten years later, the 1994 Northridge earthquake caused major damage to the old swimming stadium structure and the natatorium was closed down. Had it not been for the tireless efforts of sports advocate and noted philanthropist John Argue, the 1932 Swimming Stadium would have likely gone the way of the Olympic Village in the Baldwin Hills. Argue formed a nonprofit and helped secure funding to restore the natatorium. There was much work to be done; the stadium ‘s structure walls were severely cracked, and repairing them was an engineering challenge. The original color of the concrete was poured in 1932 and weathered for roughly 70 years, so matching the color proved a feat. In the fall of 2004, however, the 120,000 square-foot renewed structure was completed at a cost of $30 million. Today on the site there is a three-story recreation center with two basketball courts, weight and fitness rooms, a family pool, an outdoor amphitheater and a 50-meter competition pool. The LA 84/John C. Argue Swim Stadium is open to the public; it retains its original historic façade, but offers a sleek and modern interior for champions, beginners and swimmers of every ability in between.

Spruce Goose Hangar

27. Spruce Goose Hangar

In the recorded histories of gargantuan, Brobdingnagian, pharaonic boondoggles, Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose – the World War II-era wooden airplane that flapped off the ground for all of one minute – isn’t quite up there with, say, a pyramid, but it’s close. (In a contest for the all-time greatest waste of taxpayers’ dollars on egotistically pointless sorts of giant thingies, pyramids still win).Yet, that said, big, bold building enterprises that require tons of human ingenuity (not to mention birch wood or limestone) have a way of capturing our imagination. The sheer scope of the enterprises doesn’t merely boggle the eye; it challenges our preconceptions about human limitations. The Spruce Goose and its redwood hangar, pictured here, was, historians say, an illustration of not just one man’s vision but of an entire nation’s determination to win a war. Hercules, the plane’s real name, had a wingspan of 320 feet and weighed 200 tons. The hangar, which is longer than two football fields, is still one of the largest wooden structures in the world. Today, the Hangar, in Playa del Rey, is being adapted into part of a larger campus of soundstages and entertainment business offices, by developer Wayne Ratkovich. Ratkovich, a champion of socially responsible development, is best known for his perfectly crafted restorations of the Wiltern Theater, Chapman Market, Oviatt Building and Fine Arts Building, all in Los Angeles. Hughes, at the height of his genius, famously palled around with movie stars while building his aviation and motion picture empire. So it’s fitting that the hangar’s second act is as a soundstage where movies such as Transformers are filmed. Who can fault Hughes for thinking big, and who knows — the hangar’s ultimate purpose may have yet to be determined. After all, those lapis and gold-filled pyramids perhaps began as monuments to one man or woman, but thousands of years later they are wonders of the world not because of Khufu or Tutankhamen, but ultimately, because of what they teach us about ourselves.

Ambassador Hotel

28. Ambassador Hotel

Built in 1921, the Ambassador Hotel was Los Angeles’ first big, beautiful, bona fide urban resort. There, in an unexpected oasis, the rich and famous would frolic, riding horses and splashing in the newfangled swimming pool. That the Ambassador site remains today is due to, and despite, several factors: the dramatic evolution of the city, the development of newer playgrounds for the rich, preservation battles of historic proportions, demographic changes unimagined in the 1920s and the importance of public education. Of course, the property long ago ceased serving as a hotel and is now a complex of schools serving the Pico-Union and Koreatown neighborhoods. The original building lost its luster after the tragic assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 , and a years-long battle ensued as to how or whether it should be repurposed. Today, the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, are comprised of six public schools built to relieve overcrowded schools in the area. The 24-acre complex has few remnants of its more glamorous era. Most of the hotel , designed by Myron Hunt and partner Elmer Grey, was torn down in 2006. (Hunt and Grey would also design the San Marino house of Henry Huntington in 1909, which later became part of the main art gallery of the Huntington Library). Still, some of the most iconic elements of the original Ambassador Hotel were incorporated in the new design, including some Moorish archways in the hotel’s legendary Cocoanut Grove where the first Academy Awards were held. The room is now a 582-seat theatre—sans the papier mache palm trees that decorated the inside of the dining room or the mechanical monkeys from Rudolph Valentino’s hit movie “The Sheik ” that swung from the trees. The hotel’s 1940’s era Paul R. Williams-designed coffee shop, near the spot where Marilyn Monroe once posed for photos, now serves as a teachers’ lounge. And the intricate vaulted ceiling of the hotel’s Embassy Ballroom, the site of Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 Primary victory speech, was reconstructed as the library for secondary students. So, although some of its history has been erased, new generations of Angelenos are preparing for the future within its walls.

Angelus Rosedale Cemetery

29. Angelus Rosedale Cemetery

At the end of the 19th century, Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in the West Adams District was a trailblazer, far ahead of its time. Founded in 1884 when only 28,285 people lived in Los Angeles City, Rosedale was the first cemetery to offer an integrated eternity, providing plots to the deceased of all races. It was also the first graveyard in the West, to offer crematory services. As such, it was a popular place to spend the great hereafter, and a veritable who’s who is buried there. Academy Award winner Hattie McDaniel rests here as well as Dooley Wilson, whose version of As Time Goes By in the movie Casablanca has endured for decades. The former owners of Catalina Island are here. Here lies Louis Phillip, best noted for building one of the region’s first mansions, erected in 1875, and whose towering fortune of $3 million made him (according to newspaper reports) the richest man in the county. There is international flare too: Maria Rasputin, daughter of the Russian mystic and advisor to the doomed Romanov family, Grigori Rasputin, makes this her last resting place there. Once a year, McDaniel, Wilson, the Phillips family and others notable ghosts attend the West Adams Heritage Association Living History Tour September 28 (All right, they’re not really ghosts; actors in costume lurk among the elaborate headstones, pyramid crypts and antique monuments). This year, the spirit of Jennie Bovard, the University of Southern California’s first female professor, will be summoned along with Dr. Oner Barker, an African American physician who risked his career during the McCarthy red scare and Ivie Anderson, a chanteuse who sang with Duke Ellington. Bought in 1993 by the family-owned Angelus Funeral Home, the cemetery continues to be an important cultural landmark and reminder of the region’s past and present for generations of Angelenos of every race and faith—dead or alive.

FaithDome

30. FaithDome

The FaithDome, home to the Crenshaw Christian Center, was founded by Rev. Frederick K.C. Price in 1973. It was first located in Inglewood, with about 300 members, but Price’s radio and television ministries brought hundreds, then thousands more to services, and to accommodate the booming congregation the center purchased the 32-acre former campus of Pepperdine University, which had decamped to Malibu. Construction on the building, and the aluminum dome’s clear-span design by Temcor, was completed in 1989. It is one of the largest geodesic structures in the world, and is widely regarded as an iconic landmark in the region’s landscape. The lattice shell structure is built in a style popularized by Buckminster Fuller – a Unitarian architect, inventor and futurist who once decreed that selfishness is unnecessary and “henceforth unrationalizable.” With a push from Fuller, the popularity of geodesic domes took off in the 1950s, and they were featured as exhibit attractions (notably in Montreal), municipal buildings, military station and experimental housing developments. Fuller did not invent the design – rather he is the Henry Ford of the structure — the person who popularized it for the masses. Try to imagine the wonder and contradiction the new shape presented to mid-20th century eyes — the expanse of vaulted weightlessness that soared without pillars or posts, columns or beams. Today, the FaithDome is the spiritual home of more than 10,000 people. It is also, however, a beacon to millions who never have entered its doors. The aerial photo here shows a sight familiar to many Angelenos and travelers from around the world. On the final approach to LAX, no matter what time of day, you know you are almost safely home when there, glistening in the glare of sunshine or the soft glow of moonlight, is the stunning white roof of the Faith Dome.

Loyola Marymount University

31. Loyola Marymount University

Photo: Courtesy of Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University, affectionately called LMU, is more than a top notch school from which to receive a degree; it is home to an eclectic architectural mix that houses Mediterranean Revival, Spanish Renaissance and Post Modern style buildings on its 142-acre campus. Take for example its 120,000-square-foot William H. Hannon Library. Just four years old, the circular design of this three-story facility with floor to ceiling windows is reminiscent of a classical structure found in Rome. Complete with study rooms, a fireplace and an outdoor terrace with a media lounge and café, this library is modern and contemporary, yet its lines evoke ancient structures. Not far away, in a Spanish Gothic architectural style sits the Sacred Heart Chapel, arguably the most iconic building on campus. The chapel evokes a late medieval period, with 27 large stained-glass windows, vaulted ceiling and arches in its entryway and inside. Although the buildings could not be more different, they are nonetheless harmonious, demonstrating that classical and modern architecture together can seamlessly work to enrich the educational environment. Setting off the beauty of the campus is the university’s location. Situated in Westchester, minutes away from Los Angeles International Airport and the Pacific Ocean, the campus sits on top of a bluff that offers visitors and students stunning views of Playa Del Rey, Culver City and Marina Del Rey. Loyola Marymount traces its early beginnings to 1911, when it was founded as Los Angeles College. When St. Vincent’s College for boys closed its doors in 1911, members of the Society of Jesus opened a high school division of their newly founded college, naming the school both for the society’s founder, Saint Ignatius Loyola, and the Virgin Mary. Rapid growth led the Jesuits to seek a new campus and in 1918, rename the school Loyola College of Los Angeles. The society relocated the school to its current Westchester location in 1929. Today LMU is the largest Jesuit Catholic University for undergraduates on the West Coast, with nearly 6,000 undergraduate students. To a certain extent, Loyola Marymount’s architecture is an apt metaphor for the school itself; the university remains rooted in its history and values while steadily advancing the ideas, innovations and education of today.

Bethlehem Baptist Church

32. Bethlehem Baptist Church

At first glance, if driving or walking by the corner of Compton Avenue and East 49th Street, it can be difficult to readily appreciate the stark beauty of the Bethlehem Baptist Church. Its original luster has long been washed away by the elements, and years of disuse have taken a toll. The church, however, is a bona fide architecture treasure: it is the only church designed by the great modern architect, Rudolph Schindler. Schindler houses dot the Southern California landscape, but the church is as unique both for its location in the southern part of the city and for the visceral power of its social justice message. Commissioned by an African-American congregation in 1944, Bethlehem Baptist served as both a place of worship and community center. This was the era of Jim Crow and racial housing covenants, however, with its assertively modern design and abstract cruciform tower, the church inspired the community not only to look heavenward for solace and support, but ahead – to a future that would see the end of segregation and progress toward equality. To heighten its impact, the congregation located its new building on a corner of the lot rather than in its center – a bold move 70 years ago for both the worshipers at Bethlehem Baptist and Schindler. With its sharp, clean lines and geometric shapes, the church certainly deserved to be placed on the list of Los Angeles’ Historic-Cultural Monument by the City Council—as it finally was in 2009. We show it here in its original, pristine state. The design showcases horizontal bands of stucco in a de Stijl pattern that resembles rectangular Legos stacked like elements in a Mondrian painting. The horizontal bands also allowed the insertion of planters and other openings for natural elements to soften its straight edges. Although the edifice is regularly featured in articles, on blogs and in books about L.A. architecture, over the years it has fallen into serious disrepair. Its historical landmark designation means it is safe from demolition and cannot easily be altered or torn down, but Bethlehem Baptist needs something more. It needs the same commitment and reverence that first brought a timeless, modernist vision to a corner of South L.A.

Eric Owen Moss

33. Eric Owen Moss

Is there another neighborhood in the United States of America that packs the contemporary architectural punch of the Hayden Tract in Culver City? We don’t think so. Building by building, architect Erin Owen Moss transformed what was once a gritty industrial area of warehouses and near-empty buildings into an outdoor museum of dynamic structures. Instead of imposing one man’s personal ethos, however, they invite creative communion. Architectural institutions, associations and aficionados, developers and design die hards sing his praises; tour groups from as far away as Japan, Germany come by the busloads to revel in the area. We have featured Moss’ work previously (The Stealth building), but looking at his work piecemeal mutes the impact of his achievement in Culver City. What city planners around the world struggle to accomplish – the graceful repurposing of neighborhoods– he has achieved with architecture, catalyzing economic development and job creation, creating spaces that attract cutting edge companies and entrepreneurs. Moss credits the vision of developers Frederick and Laurie Samitaur Smith, who have been his long-time patrons, saying: “What the Smiths did is actually quite unique; I don’t think they’ve been recognized for it enough.” Nike moved in, so did digital advertising powerhouse Omelet, Beats by Dre and the list goes on. Why? Because a creative environment attracts a creative community, which in turn inspires and energizes the work. It is also a winning business model – with roughly 1 million square feet of space, the Smiths have a vacancy rate of zero. To end 2013’s look at architectural sites in the Second District, we diverge from our typical routine. Normally we feature one architectural gem with an audio description of its merit. This month, however, we have a special gift: a video interview with the architect behind the some of the region’s most riveting structures, Eric Moss. Enjoy!

Spotlight on Willowbrook

Spotlight on Willowbrook

Is it a part of Compton? Watts? Maybe Rosewood? The little unincorporated community of Willowbrook has, like so many neighborhoods in unincorporated Los Angeles County –long had a question mark hovering over its identity. However, the community named for the willows and shallow brook that were a landmark and boundary of sorts in the 1840s, is poised to emerge as a distinctive health care, transportation and civic hub , thanks to a $600 million- investment by Los Angeles County in new buildings, gardens, art and infrastructure. Catalyzing its resurgence is the development of three modernist buildings on the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Medical Campus: A Center for Public Health, the new MLK Outpatient Center and a new state-of-the-art hospital. The center for public health opened in 2011, the other two jewels in the crown, gleaming with glass and steel and welcoming curves, have recently completed construction. Glass is the prominent design element in all three buildings, and the afternoon sunshine or evening light reflect from one building to the next, thematically uniting facilities devoted to wellness, prevention, treatment and cutting edge technology. But as important as healthcare is to a community, Willowbrook retains an old fashioned sense of community that gives it a strong sense of place. And to capture that sensibility , in 2011, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, in partnership with LA Commons, used funding from the National Endowment for the arts to do a year-long project on the community’s cultural assets. The results, highlighted in the book Willowbrook Is…Willowbrook Es, bring to life the role arts, architecture and culture can play in a community where neighborhoods still have a distinctively agrarian and even rural feel. Since, the 1930s, residents have used the deep lots to grow their own fruits and vegetables, a tradition long held among the African Americans who moved to Los Angeles from the south and now more recently, with Latino immigrants. In Willowbrook, residents share their garden bounties with one another, look out for each other and take pride in where they live. There are no McMansions here, only carefully tended homes with lovingly cared for gardens and residents who love where they live. Viewed in isolation, the homes are far from unique in the Los Angeles landscape. Taken together, as they are here in Willowbrook Es…they are a snapshot of a neighborhood’s past history and present aspirations.

The Reserve: Modern Design for an Older Space

The Reserve: Modern Design for an Older Space

Big Yellow Taxi’s famous chorus – They paved paradise and put up a parking lot – could have been written about just about any community in Southern California. Too many architectural landmarks, historical structures and buildings that sported cool, quaint or quirky designs were paved over for so-called progress. So it’s not just refreshing, it is the rare example when the reverse occurs; modernize it but work with the natural surroundings.

A group of environmentally conscious developers, design and landscape architects created a 20-acre work space on the site of the former main distribution center for the U.S. Post Office in Playa Vista, re-imagining and reusing the space for something extraordinary. Taking the restored wetlands and wildlife preserve nearby as a cue, The Reserve, as the new office spaces are called, seeks to balance nature with a 21st century work environment.

In 2011, the former postal complex was purchased by two private real estate groups, Worthe Real Estate Group and Shorenstein Properties, with the intention of creating an appealing space for small businesses in the media and entertainment industries.

Purchased while in foreclosure, the space was bleak. One blogger described it as looking like “some abandoned complex at Chernobyl,” with lots of concrete and steel, not a nary blade or leaf of green in sight. But its location, so close to the Playa Vista development, the beach, the Marina Freeway and Jefferson Boulevard, as well as the enormous amount of acreage gave the space tantalizing possibilities.

Fast forward to today: the former asphalt parking lot for post office trucks, is now an oasis of drought resistant grasses bordered by evergreen trees and hidden red and blue bird houses. Workers can stop by a private fitness center, dog walk, a bike shop and café or ride along miles of trails that connect to the beach. But some of the old was respected: the numbers painted on the walls designated for the big postal trucks remain.

Sony Play Station, Team One Advertising, the entertainment site TMZ and Microsoft have already signed leases. More technology firms, digital arts, media groups and other forward-looking companies are coming.

With nearly two acres of garden spaces, including 600 newly planted trees, the building itself is Gold LEED certified, meaning the buildings are models of sustainable re-use and cost less to operate because they reduce energy and water bills. Natural light streams through the large windows and open spaces and a large lead glass window panel welcomes visitors into the lobby.

The space is reflective of the newer trends in architecture, where visual design interacts with the people that use it. To counter the sedentary and often stultifying effects of traditional desk jobs, some architects now are also looking at “active designs” as a way to build buildings or recreational spaces and neighborhoods that support and promote physical, mental and social well-being. Examples include the 2009 opening of the High Line in New York City, which converted miles of unused rail line into a public park. Chicago recently announced a $290 million-plan to create hundreds of new parks, community spaces and boat houses for residents.

While Los Angeles may be the land of freeways, increasingly it also is becoming a region that moves toward converting using already constructed spaces in dense urban areas into little villages and pockets of self-sustaining communities.

In the 1960s, contemporary architecture often looked to space exploration and other-worldly experiences to depict a lifestyle anchored in the world future. Half a century later, we have shifted course; some of the most enlightened and inspiring architecture looks downward, promoting and encouraging human creativity in harmony with respect and love for nature.

Shrine Auditorium

Shrine Auditorium

Certain buildings have soul. Some of these structures are ancient and, having imbibed the human experience over centuries, achieved personalities of their own. Sometimes, however, they are relatively new. The wonder of Los Angeles is that in mere decades, so many of our landmarks have come to occupy a niche in the hearts and minds residents as well as people around the world. Why? Perhaps because they are the sites of high drama, of glamour, of dashed hopes and outrageous successes. Perhaps because television has made people who have never set foot inside the Forum, attended a movie at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre or eaten at Randy’s Donuts, feel as if they have. The Shrine Auditorium is another such place. It is not just a repository of historic events but a participant. Best known for having been home to the most glamorous events in Los Angeles, it did not start out playing host to the Academy Awards, the Grammys and other Hollywood big nights. The Al Malaikah Shriners built a civic space and club house in 1906, and 14 years later it went up in a blaze. Nationally, the Shriners, known for their children’s hospitals, perky red fezzes and that staple of any decent parade — miniature cars — were on a building spree. Across the country they erected “temples,” often in the Moorish Revival style, including the new auditorium. The new Shrine opened its doors in 1926. With seating for 6,700, it was the largest theater in the country; inside and out it defined fabulousness. We mean that literally. Designed in the Moroccan style by architects John C. Austin and Abram M. Edelman and with an interior by noted theater designer G. Albert Lansburgh, it evoked exotic lands and fable — Middle Eastern palaces, desert luxury out of Aladdin’s Lamp and touches of Granada’s Alhambra. Judy Garland would perform there, as would Michael Jackson. Sinatra and Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix and other legends left their mark. New management took over its programming last year, and as ever, we’re anxious to see what will be the Shrine’s next act.

King Fahad Mosque

King Fahad Mosque

Photo: Courtesy of Courtesy of Clinton Steeds

When the beautiful new King Fahad Mosque in Culver City opened in 1998 it captured both local and national attention. In accordance with Islamic tradition, its marble façade faces Mecca, and handmade tiles from Turkey distinguish its 72-foot-high minaret, which is topped with a gold leaf crescent.
Architecturally, mosques distinguish themselves as ideal places of contemplation. If Christian architecture historically emphasized verticality – cathedrals reached heavenward — and Jewish buildings focused on the bema or bimah, where the Torah is read, the architecture of mosques is of an emphatic simplicity and grace. Their lines are mathematical and pure externally, often with intricate inlays and detailed tiling on the inside, and the King Fahad Mosque is no exception. In the 1990s, Former Presidents George W. Bush and Gerald Ford lauded it as a symbol of the bond between the peoples of Saudi Arabia and the United States, with President Ford noting that all Americans were grateful for this gift from King Fahd, for whom the mosque is named. The mosque, however, is more than a symbol. Its minaret is a landmark for Angelenos and a beacon for Southern California’s Muslim community. The building covers 63,000 square feet and can accommodate 2,000 worshippers. It is not only a place of worship, but a true community hub. Inside are classrooms, meetings halls, research centers and a bookshop, all of which are entirely supported by local donations. The mission of the mosque, however, extends beyond its walls. Active in the interfaith community, the mosque has sought to promote understanding and with broad community engagement, counter the prejudices that sometimes attach to Islam. Also, tours for people of all faiths can be arranged through its website. President Ford once called the mosque a gift – and both its architectural beauty and place in the faith community of L.A. County make it so.

Baldwin Scenic Overlook

Baldwin Scenic Overlook

From the start of our web feature on architectural gems in the Second District, we’ve taken an unorthodox approach to selecting sites. We have profiled landmarks such as the lovely Clark Library, the cool Coca Cola bottling plant and the space-age styled Pann’s Restaurant. We also, however, have waxed poetic about places and spaces that stretch the definition of “architecture,” including the Exposition Park Rose Garden, the giant donuts at Randy’s and Dale’s, and the elegance of a freeway overpass (The Marilyn Jorgenson Reece interchange). Here we go again: our choice this month is the urban oasis nestled between Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights and Culver City – the Baldwin Scenic Overlook. Its 511-foot peak offers a panoramic view of Los Angeles, from the Pacific to the mountains, with walking trails and a center that tells the story of the site, from its previous existence as the site of oil drilling to its current-day iteration as a restored nature preserve filled with sage bush, butterfly plants and other drought tolerant plants. Along the trails, as humans huff and puff the pounds away, nature is busily at work with butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and ladybugs restoring the landscape to its natural state. The state purchased the site in 2000, closed it to build a visitor’s center and trails, then reopened it with what has become a favorite amenity of locals: a set of 282 concrete steps. The top is easily accessed by car with a turn on to 6300 Hetzler from Jefferson Boulevard in Culver City, with a fee to park at the top, but the Culver City Stairs provide a heart-pumping, leg pounding experience that makes gaining the top – and the sweeping vista from downtown Los Angeles, to the Hollywood Hills and into the Santa Monica Mountains– all the sweeter. It’s safe to say that the stairs now rival nearby Kenneth Hahn State Park as a favorite workout site for locals. And really, with the ocean to one side, the mountains on the other, a sweeping view of the city and a terrific place to workout in the mix, what could be more L.A.?

Star Apartments

Star Apartments

The building stands out in the heart of downtown Los Angeles as a bright white beacon of hope for the homeless. The Star Apartments for the Skid Row Housing Trust at 6th Street and Maple Avenue, built in December 2013, already have become local landmarks, winning two prestigious awards for their visionary and pleasing architecture as well as for being a breezy and modern space for people in need.

The design, created by the lauded Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan, seems to float above the street level like white stacked Legos with a base firmly planted on the ground. It is both playful and functional, offering services for a community in need while giving off a decidedly non-institutional vibe.

It boasts retail stores at the street level, while a second story is reserved for community programs; four terraced floors with 102 apartments hover above. Not only do previously homeless people live here, but also on the premises are services for substance abuse, mental health and assistance with employment searches to help residents move back into the mainstream of life.

The building itself, at 95,000 square feet, is a text book example of how to build in tight quarters. Instead of tearing down the existing structure, the architects decided to build on top of it, with prefabricated modules lifted into place—a clever move that saved both money and time. It is also a model for sustainability with a Gold LEED certification. All told, the Star Apartments benefit not only those who live there, but – as does all good architecture – they elevate the design quotient of the entire neighborhood. Maltzan’s work is eclectic, ranging from work for museums to a new pier in St. Petersburg, Florida to stunning private residences for the privileged. His Star Apartments, however, as well as other transitional housing projects in the Skid Row area, set a new standard in permanent supportive housing, bringing the very best of design to those who, at least for a time, have the least.